Reinforced suction box cover



C. E. YOUNGCHILD REINF'ORCED SUCTION BOX COVER March 28, 1961 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 3, 1958 INVENTOR CASPER E.YOUNGCHILD ATTORNEYS C. E. YOUNGCHILD REINFORCED SUCTION BOX COVER March 28, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 3, 1958 INVENTOR 2+ CASPER avouwecmw i" l LN n' 1 /Vp 1i ,i /i

ORNEYS March 28, 1961 c. E. YOUNGCHILD REINFORCED sUcTIoN Box COVER 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 3, 1958 INVENTOR CASPER E.YOUNGCH| LD ATTORNEYS United States Patent REINFORCED SUCTION BOX COVER Casper E. Youngchild, Appleton, Wis., assignor -to Appleton Wood Products Co., Appleton, Wis.

Filed Feb. 3, 1958, Ser. No. 712,711

4 Claims. (Cl. 162-374) This invention appertains to covers for suction boxes of Fourdrinier, felt or pulping machines, cylinder box board machines, and like paper making machines, and more particularly to novel means for constructing sections of a type of suction box cover, such as is shown in the McAnulty et al. Patent No. 751,095, issued February 2, 1904.

Where a suction hox cover is constructed from lsections or blocks, many difliculties have been encountered, such as, first, the obtaining of the desired suction area in the cover, in that where large openings are used, the sections or blocks are weakened to too great an extent; second, the sections or blocks tend to sag and warp, third, the sections tend to break off and fall, and fourth, the active life of the blocks or sections is short and the blocks or sections have to be replaced after they are worn down a slight distance in that the blocks or sections will then sag, warp, etc.

Itis, therefore, one of the primary objects of my invention to provide means for reinforcing each of the sections of a cover of a suction box at a certainpoint, whereby to effectively add strength to the sections without affecting proper sliding contact of the wire or felt with the sections or blocks and that so sagging and warping are minimized, and whereby desired size of openings can be had without weakening the sections or blocks, and whereby the sections or blocks can be worn down approximately to the reinforcement without decreasing the strength and operation of the box.

Another salient object of my invention is toV provide a suction box cover formed from individual sections or blocks each including a main body formed of a material particularly suitable for wire contact, and a dissimilar material having rigidity and strength embedded in the lower surface of the sections from end to end to reinforce the sections and to support the sections from the box.

While the invention has been designed for reinforcing sections or blocks of suction box covers, it is to be understood that my invention can be effectively used for reinforcing one-piece covers formed from plastic or other materials and, consequently, a further important object of my invention is to provide novel means for reinforcing and supporting one-piece covers.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and formation of parts as will be hereinafter more specifically described and claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Awhich drawings,

Figure l is a top plan view of a suction box tted with my improved cover, parts of the viewvbeing shown broken away and in section to illustratestructural detail;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through a cover constructed in accordance with my invention and the upper end of a suction box, the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the Mice line 3--3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of one section or block constructed in accordance with this invention which can be used in a suction box cover;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view through the block or section shown in Figure 4, the section being taken on the line 5 5 of Figure 4, looking -in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of another form of section orblock constructed in accordance with my invention where a large drainage area is needed.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view through the block shown in Figure 6, the section being taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 6, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is a top plan view showing another form of suction box section or block constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 9 is a transverse section therethrough taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 10 is a top plan view of the reinforced cover detached from the suction box formed from a single piece of material, such as molded plastic, and

Figure l1 is a longitudinal sectional view therethrough,

taken on the line 11-11 of Figure l0, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter C generally indicates a cover for a suction box B.

The suction box B can be of any preferred character or form and as illustrated, includes spaced parallel side walls 10 and end walls 11. r

The suction box cover C is built up from a series of groups of blocks or sections 12, 13 and 14. The sections or blocks can take different forms according to the drainage area desired, and according to the width of the wire or felt and sheet. As illustrated in Figures l and 2, I have shown a central group of sections 12, having a relatively large area of drainage and end groups of sectionsV 13 and 14 having a less area of drainage. The extreme ends of the cover can include imperforate planks 15 and 16 to close the ends of the box. All of the sections 12, 13 and 14 of the groups extend obliquely across the box and the ends of all of the sections and the planks 15 and 16 are beveled, as at 17 for facilitating the clamping of the cover in place on the side walls 10 of the box by removable strips 18. The formation of the ends of the sections and the planks 15 and 16 and the holding lstrips 18 forms vno part of this invention and any desired means can be utilized for holding the sections and planks in place on the box. Likewise, the exact shape of the blocks forms no part of the invention, as the same can take different forms as will be later more particularly pointed out, but the means of forming and reinforcing and supporting the sections or blocks does form the salient feature of this invention. Y

Where a large drainage area is desired, the blocks or sections 12 forming the central group can have formed on their opposite sides (see Figures 6 and 7) cut out portions 19 'which extend from one end of the block or section to the other leaving a comparatively thin body portion and this form of section or block is reinforced against sagging in accordance with my invention. When the sections or blocks 12 are placed together, as shown in Figures l and 2, elongated drain openings 20 are provided which extend entirely across the box in a diagonal direction to permit free drainage.

The sections or blocks 13 and 14 forming the end groups can each be provided with a series of vertical staggeredly arranged notches 21, and when these blocks are placed together elongated openings 22 are provided which give good drainage but not as great a usuction area as the central group of blocks or sections 12,. 'The openings are particularly necessary to provide means for deckling or narrowing the vacuum area, thereby changing or controlling the width of sheet.

The blocks or sections of the various groups are preferably formed from wood, particularly maple, with the grain running in a predetermined direction, but these blocks or sections can obviously be formed from other material, such as plastic, without departing from this invention. The material utilized, however, must give a smooth wear surface for the wire or felt sliding thereover and actually, the blocks or sections should wear in preference to the wire.

Now, in order to prevent sagging, warping, etc. of the blocks or sections, and to give the large suction area, as previously brought out, I provide a novel means for reinforcing and supporting each block or section independent of the other. To bring this about, I utilize a metal strip 23 possessing strength and rigidity and this strip is embedded centrally into the lower face of each block or section and extends longitudinally of its block or section from end to end and rests upon the upper surface of the side walls of the suction box. The strips 23 are relatively thin and are preferably of a height of approximately 1A of the height of its block or section. Each strip forms an embedded rigid strengthening rib and in view of the fact that the ribs seat on the cover, each rib will effectively support its block or section against sagging and distortion. As the height of the reinforcing strip 23 is a great deal less than the height of each section, the sections can be worn down to a great extent before the wire strikes the metal strip. This is not possible with other blocks and sections with which I am familiar, as the blocks become weak as their height diminishes. In my blocks or sections, the same are effectively supported and strengthened by the internal strips or ribs.

While I have shown two forms of blocks or sections in Figures l and 2, it is to be understood that different forms of blocks or sections can be utilized. For instance, semi-circular notches can be utilized.

In Figures 8 and 9, I have shown a block or section having a width greater than the blocks or sections shown in Figures 4 and 6 and this type of block or section 24 can be provided with rows of openings 25 extending therethrough from the top to the bottom. In this block, the metal rib 23 is also embedded centrally in the lower face of the block or section directly between the rows of openings 25.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that I have provided novel means for forming the sections of a suction box cover in which the sections are formed from dissimilar material in such a manner that one type of material will engage the Wire and the other type of material will strengthen and support the entire section or block.

Effort has been made to form a suction box cover from a single piece of plastic. With this type of cover, when attempt is made to enlarge the openings, the land area is reduced to a point where the remaining stock in the land area is so weakened that the same will settle and the cover is then worthless.

In Figures 10 and 11, I have shown means for reinforcing a molded plastic cover whereby the land areas of such cover will be effectively supported against sagging irrespective of the size of the openings or slots formed in the cover. This cover is indicated by the reference character 26 and the same can be provided with any preferred type of slots or openings. As illustrated, elongated relatively wide diagonally extending slots 27 are formed in the body of the cover. These slots 27 deiine relatively thin land areas 23 ltherebetween.

To effectively sup-port these 1rand areas and reinforce the entire cover, relatively thin metal strips 29 are embedded in the land areas 2S, and these strips correspond to the metal strips 2? in the first form of my invention previously described. It is to be noted that these strips 29 extend the entire width of the cove-r and that these strips together with the cover will rest upon the walls of the suction box. As in the previous forms described, the cover 216 can be worn down approximately to the metal strips without affecting the strength of the cover. The reinforcing of the cover by the metal strips 20 is particularly important, where the cover is molded from plastic in that plastic has a tendency to sag, particularly in the presence of heat.

Changes in details may be made Without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention, but what I claim as new is:

I claim:

l. A suction box for Fourdrinier and like machines having a cover comprising a plurality of independent sections, said suction box having side and end walls providing an open top, each of the sections including a main body portion having an upper exposed wear face and lower non-active face, said sections extending across 4the suction box and resting upon the side walls of the box and a reinforcing rib possessing strength and rigidity embedded in the body portion from the llower face and terminating decidedly short of the upper exposed face and extending from one end of the body to the other and resting upon the upper edges of the side walls of the box.

2. A suction box for Fourdrinier and like machines as `defined in claim 1, and said reinforcing rib having a height less thanv 1/2 of the height of the body portion.

3. A suction box for Fourdrinier and likevmachines as defined in claim 1 and said rib being a narrow strip of metal having a height iess than 1/2 of the height of the body portion.

4. A suction box for Fourdrinier and like paper making machines having a cover, said suction box having side and end `walls provided with an open top, said cover having an upper exposed wear face and a lower non# active face, said cover extending across the suction box and resting upon the side walls of the box, and a plurality of spaced flat reinforcing ribs possessing strength and rigidity embedded in the cover from the lower face thereof and terminating decidedly short of the upper exposed face and extending from one longitudinalV edge of the coverV to -the other and having their lower edges exposed and resting upon the upper edges of the side walls of the suction box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,084,276 Iaminet Jan. 13, 1914 2,516,329 Maxey July 20, 1950 2,618,206 Van Ryzin Nov. 18, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 321.104 Germany May 17, 1920 

